The software development firm Astronomer announced its CEO, Andy Byron, has resigned after he was seen embracing a colleague at a recent Coldplay concert, sparking an all-out public relations disaster for the company as the public accused the two of having an affair.
“Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability, and recently, that standard was not met,” Astronomer said in a Saturday social media post.
“Andy Byron has tendered his resignation, and the Board of Directors has accepted,” the company announced, adding, “The Board will begin a search for our next Chief Executive as Cofounder and Chief Product Officer Pete DeJoy continues to serve as interim CEO.”
Astronomer went on to say, “Before this week, we were known as a pioneer in the DataOps space, helping data teams power everything from modern analytics to production AI.”
“While awareness of our company may have changed overnight, our product and our work for our customers have not,” the firm added. “We’re continuing to do what we do best: helping our customers with their toughest data and AI problems.”
The announcement of Byron’s resignation comes after Astronomer revealed its Board of Directors had launched a formal investigation into its executives, stating, “Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability.”
The software development company also dispelled online rumors about a third employee who social media users claimed had attended the Coldplay concert with Byron and HR Chief Kristin Cabot — who was thus accused of knowing about the alleged affair.
“Alyssa Stoddard was not at the event and no other employees were in the video,” Astronomer clarified.
Byron’s resignation comes after he and Cabot turned themselves into a spectacle when they tried to hide from Coldplay’s kiss cam in front of the entire audience in the Boston area’s Gillette Stadium on Wednesday — an incident that was caught on film and went viral on social media, making international headlines.
A camera had shone a spotlight on the two cuddling Astronomer executives during an interactive segment of Coldplay’s performance. After realizing all eyes were on them, Byron and Cabot instinctively turned around and ducked out of sight .
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“Either they’re having an affair or they’re just very shy,” Martin initially quipped in reaction to the two executives trying to hide from the camera.
“Holy shit, I hope we didn’t do something bad,” the “Yellow” singer added after realizing that Byron and Cabot had no intention of returning into the kiss cam’s view.
The incident quickly went viral on social media, where it dominated users’ timelines and was mocked and memed into oblivion.
On Friday, two mascots at the Philadelphia Phillies game also took part in the roasting by mimicking Byron and Cabot’s reactions to being caught on camera in an embrace while Coldplay’s “Clocks” played in the background.
The skit elicited laughter among the game attendees, who were all too familiar with the context.
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At the time of this writing, Coldplay has yet to publicly comment on the incident.
Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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